


Like in Days of Yore

by Equinoctia



Category: Loki: Agent of Asgard, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Norse Religion & Lore, Thor (Movies)
Genre: 1990s, AU mythological Asgard mashup with a bit of Marvel, Alternate Universe - Norse Religion & Lore, F/M, Loki is the God of Sex, Manipulative Loki (Marvel), impending smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:35:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25096183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Equinoctia/pseuds/Equinoctia
Summary: The mid 1990s: the gods of Asgard have, in visions, glimpsed that a great popular revival of their cult will be happening in the near future. This somewhat over-optimistic interpretation of the MCU's coming success means that some gods are starting to practice their new forms and traits. Loki is delighted to know that he is taking on a sex god aspect and that he can now get away with more frequent trips to Midgard. His eye is caught by Emma, an arrogant, horny, soon-to-be archaeology student, who would love to get some sexual experience before starting university in a couple of months, if only there were anyone actually interesting around. [Work title may change. Eventual Explicit rating.]
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	Like in Days of Yore

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Get On Your Knees And Pray To Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22942099) by [shiningloki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiningloki/pseuds/shiningloki). 



> NB: Aside from the typical sexual and mild BDSM content found in most smut fics, here is a list of less standard kinks, and other topics that might be difficult for some readers, in later chapters:  
> virginity kink, fetishizing virginity, time travel, or is it just Loki's illusions, altar sex, Viking raids, graphic violence, implied rape (not by Loki and related as if after the event), hints at past experience of child abuse, PTSD, magical healing, Switching, period (menstrual) sex, magical sex/gender swaps, OC is a bit genderfluid but doesn't use present-day definitions, disrespect of Christianity. And a fuckton of music, pop culture and historical references.  
> To be added to tags as and when content is posted.
> 
> I was inspired to write this in my first few hours of reading Loki fanfic, specifically by the first half chapter of shiningloki's Get on Your Knees and Pray To Me. I stopped reading her fic and started writing. This is set in the 90s because that's when I was 18, like the protagonist. I wanted to write an OFC who was sexually bold and kinky despite lacking practical experience - like Michelle from American Pie if she hadn't been prepared to settle - and not particularly likeable. There are obvious reasons why unlikeable original lead characters aren't popular in smutty fanfic, but I've read a lot of literary fiction and find unlikeable characters interesting, and why not pair one with a villain for a fling?

It had been the best part of a thousand years since the deities of Asgard had received much devotion from humanity, but now, at the tail end of what - for reasons the Norse gods preferred not to dwell on - Midgard called the twentieth century, their prospects looked more promising than they had for over a millennium. This was going to be even better than the days when the Vikings voyaged, traded, and sometimes conquered their way over a sizeable portion of the Northern Hemisphere. With rejoicing, and, yes, admittedly more than a little unbridled lust for power, the gods looked forward to how their strength would soon grow with their number of followers, when millions would come to worship them, far more than ever in the whole of history. 

There had been an upward trajectory for some time, though nothing of this scope. Scholars two hundred years ago had rediscovered and loved the old tales; later the wealthy and cultured enjoyed the operas by that chap Richard Wagner. Some of those Germans of sixty Midgard years earlier had been active devotees of the gods, but they were so damnably restrictive about whom they considered part of their 'civilisation', that the scope for gaining more worshippers had been extremely limited, even before they were defeated. Then, as more humans grew to love the stories of Mr Tolkien, some of the more assiduous among them read about the world of the old gods which had inspired him. And now, it seemed that very soon would be the great revival all of this had been building towards.

The seeresses had received new visions from the near future, and excitedly shown them to the gods: shimmering glimpses of tens of millions of people all over the globe, perhaps billions in total - far more humans than had ever known of Asgard before - congregating before images of the gods, and new versions of their myths, with many also keeping the images in their homes. There would be a vast proliferation of likenesses of certain gods, and an outpouring of attention and love. This coming revival appeared to have some connection with the comics, pamphlets of coloured drawings that had existed for a handful of decades already - but their newer heroes, flying and leaping strongmen, had so far acquired a far greater following than an irreverently mild idea of Thor. These new stories and images, though, were to be grand and mythic and capture the imagination of vast numbers. The people would, among themselves, tell many stories of the gods, though in writing - not speech, as they had a millennium earlier. 

The increasing, though still fairly small, numbers of people calling themselves pagans in recent years, in the old stomping grounds of Europe and Greater Vinland, must have something to do with this revival too, though the seeresses had not yet observed how. (That's the problem with visions; they may simply be the psychic equivalent of a few clips and still pictures - not the full story.) But the gods, intending to do everything they could to help the revival along, planned to up their apparitions and granting of requests to the pagans, including those who were as yet tentative in their beliefs. Whilst theirs was what is sometimes called a natural religion - not a revealed prophetic religion of preachers and holy books, and proselytisers who put you off their creed by knocking on the front door just as someone's about to serve supper. But they could still give it a hand to grow in less obtrusive ways. Put in some appearances. Press the flesh.

Some gods were evolving new aspects for the revival - an aspect is a default form for being the god of a particular phenomenon or in a certain place - and they began to experience slight shifts in appearance, personality or skills. This was especially the case for the gods whose presence in the revival who would be strongest, and among those was Loki. He was very pleased with his physique; he seemed to be putting on muscle a little more easily than he used to, though he was still his lithe, slender and tricksy self. And he was positively gleeful to know that he was becoming a sex god, particularly beloved of young women.

Oh, how sweet it had been to tease Frey that he was too old to get it up any more and now he, Loki, was going to have his women. Frey had wasted some perfectly good wine and roast hog by hurling it at Loki, before ranting about how he could still get as hard as he ever had -and besides, it wasn't him, it was the Midgardians, they were reacting against _that other god_ by making fertility much less important in sex. It was all about play and tricks now, he scoffed, and Loki was welcome to them. The resentment had been delightfully visible on Frey's face. 

However, there were some features of this 21st-century sex-god business that bemused Loki. He had never been a giver of comfort as such: retrieving a lost treasure or loved one for a follower, by way of deceiving their adversary, was more his style - and then there was all the cooking. Cooking! Apparently he would enjoy it, but he wasn't going to boast about that side of his Midgardian escapades, not in Asgard. Asgard's kitchens were for thralls and serving-women and the occasional wave of the hand from a deity of plenty. The realm was more or less fossilised as it had been in its heyday, and attitudes remained medieval - attitudes that were often convenient to, and encouraged by, Loki when he was taunting others, despite his 'unmanly' escapades elsewhere. On Midgard, he might perhaps dabble surreptitiously in the fine culinary arts of seduction, a gentleman connoisseur - though he needed practice first, perhaps quite a lot of practice.

Finding his feet in this new form, and strengthening it by manifesting to likely Midgardians who already believed in him - or who would believe after a visitation confirmed their tentative faith - provided a new and entirely legitimate reason for visiting Midgard. No more trying to find ways to evade Heimdall, no more bawlings-out from Odin. Odin had a trickster aspect himself, and it often seemed that he didn't like Loki making his own path with the archetype. It was still a novelty to Loki that he could once again go to Midgard pretty much as he chose, with the tacit blessing of Odin and Heimdall. It had been a while now since Midgardians had been in the habit of assuming Loki was a demon, when he had managed to find his way to their world, but Odin liked to be on the safe side. That was not a reputation he wanted for his gods - even Loki, whom he thought deserved it to an extent. 

Now, it was high summer, and a quiet time of day for the gods of Asgard. Most of Europe had just gone to work, and many of the people who hadn't were still sleeping, or were wrangling children on school holidays. Much of Greater Vinland was also asleep, and whilst there was a little interest in the Norse gods from other parts of the world, the traffic was far from busy. There, other old gods preponderated. 

A god's capacity for simultaneous attention is vast, sensing, receiving - and making decisions about - innumerable prayers, rituals, dreams and miscellaneous pleas within tiny fractions of time that have names like nano and pico and femtoseconds. Even the best multitasker on Earth (wherever she is) would burn out with permanent exhaustion after a few minutes. 

At 9.35am, British Summer Time, one day in late July 1996, with so little to look through, Loki was in a state somewhere between epic boredom and deep meditation. Though he was also considering some details for his new outfit, and what entertainment might be had from turning Bragi's beard into birds in the middle of one of his evening recitations.

Then he espied a young woman dreaming about him. This one looked very interesting. Well worth a manifestation. He grinned lasciviously. The girl was asleep, with a copy of _Gods and Myths of Northern Europe_ by her left hand. She must have read another Norse mythology book, one with pictures, too, because in her head was one of those ugly ancient drawings of him, of Loki, and whilst this idea of him was caught in her dream state, he was able to see into her mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter title is an allusion to the song Beltane by Jethro Tull (1977). There will probably be more chapter titles from lines in the same album, _Songs from the Wood_. Current work title, though also simply a stock phrase, taken from A Girl Like You by Edwyn Collins (1994).
> 
> I wrote a lot of this in a few days from 11th June and have been working on various additions and rewrites since (the whole lot in draft is over 30k words) and it was high time I started posting something, even if it is just an introductory section with negligible smut, that has now been beta'd by two friends and had several rewrites. I can't promise that all the rest will have such care taken over it before posting. Also: as I've read more fics over the last three weeks, I've worried to an extent about the similarity of my ideas to what's already out there. On the one hand, it figures, because you guys have collectively been writing about MCU Loki for nine years; but it's also not a good look to step on people's toes, especially as a newcomer.
> 
> This is in a way something I'm writing for my younger self and perhaps to get certain topics out of my system. But it is also the first time since I was the protagonist's age that I had thought of a fully-formed story with an ending. I have written beginnings or halves of so many stories, erotica and otherwise, in the intervening years, always swiftly abandoned because they had no endings, and a return to writing non-fiction content. Loki is an excellent muse. Thank you.
> 
> I have too much to say about writing process and may put it in a Dreamwidth post. (I would love to read more about other people's, incidentally.) In the meantime, acknowledgements to Pratchett and Gaiman for their concepts of gods and power, and doubtless other underlying ideas (and to A who first encouraged me to read both authors over twenty years ago) - as well as to various writers on neopaganism.


End file.
